Data on barium, strontium, cobalt, and nickel plumes formed during microbial iron-reduction on sediments and in water from a crude-oil-contaminated aquifer, Bemidji, Minnesota (2009-2019)

This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Release provides concentrations from groundwater and soil extracts for iron (Fe), barium (Ba), strontium (Sr), cobalt (Co), and nickel (Ni). Groundwater analyses for pH and alkalinity are also included. Samples were collected at the National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural Attenuation Research Site, near Bemidji MN (USA) between 2009-2019. The site is in Beltrami County, where a high-pressure pipeline carrying crude oil burst in 1979 and spilled approximately 1.7 million liters (10,700 barrels) into glacial outwash deposits. A trace element plume occurred at the site, in which concentrations of Fe, Co, Ni, Ba, and Sr were mobilized from the sediments into the groundwater. These elements are regulated in groundwater by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or recommended for regulation by the World Health Organization (WHO). Laboratory and field measurements are included in this data release. There are three tables (*.xlsx and *.csv) in this dataset: 1) T1_BemidjiDataDictionary 2) T2_BemidjiGroundwaterChemistry 3) T3_BemidjiSedimentChemistry. T1_BemidjiDataDictionary provides metadata for tables T2 and T3; T2_BemidjiGroundwaterChemistry includes pH, alkalinity (HCO3-), and trace metal concentrations measured in groundwater samples; T3_BemidjiSedimentChemistry includes trace metal concentrations measured in sediment extracts. This data release provides data sets in tabular, database-ready format. The data contained in this data release were supported primarily by the USGS Environmental Health Toxic Substances Hydrology Program.